


A Fool's Game

by juxtapose



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Angst, Character Study, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-14
Updated: 2012-01-14
Packaged: 2017-10-29 11:55:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/319639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/juxtapose/pseuds/juxtapose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What none of them notice, however, is how much the King watches. Watches and listens.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Fool's Game

**Author's Note:**

> Just a ficlet that came to me recently. Enjoy! Disclaimer: I own nothing

King Arthur Pendragon knows that many people think him a fool.

What none of them notice, however, is how much the King watches. Watches and listens.

His people, overall, are supportive. They praise his triumphs and wallow in his failures, but among hushed whispers in the marketplace they regard him as naive, and still very much a child in a lot of ways. When Arthur speaks to them sometimes, he feels his voice grow smaller and smaller with every word, and when he looks into their eyes he sees their search for experience in his. For guidance. Some even search for Uther.

(If they don't find what they're looking for, they don't show it, but Arthur knows.)

"Long live King Arthur!" the people shout, and Arthur smiles.

Guinevere, overall, is faithful. She makes a beautiful wife and a wonderful Queen. She thinks Arthur doesn't see the way her nimble fingers caress that worn piece of parchment she's held on to for years now, one that bears the familiar handwriting of the late Sir Lancelot Du Lac, ink whispering of promises and love that was cut too short to last. When he takes her hand and she doesn't always squeeze it back, the King is reminded of the ghost of their past, a shadow that never leaves. Because they married with the kind of love that does not make marriage at all.

(After all, you can't very well wholeheartedly love someone when part of your heart belongs to someone else.)

"I love you," Gwen says, and Arthur smiles.

Merlin, overall, is Arthur's best friend. He understands Arthur better than anyone, can dig beneath the surface of Arthur's words and find their true meaning, without fail. But he doesn't seem to understand the way Arthur looks at him sometimes, a glance that lasts longer than it maybe should, a knowing smile, a lingering touch. Because Merlin's always been more than Arthur's best friend.

(But he doesn't notice Arthur noticing his eyes flash gold when Arthur needs it most.)

"Never fathomed me out?" Merlin asks, and Arthur smiles.

Because what no one ever realizes amongst their whispers and their gazes and their secrets in the dark, is that their King watches and listens in the background. He always does.

For all his power and all his expected glory, for his great and booming title, Arthur often finds himself very much invisible. He's put his trust in people who, for a while, made him believe otherwise. But it has all been for naught so far, it seems.

King Arthur knows that many people think him a fool.

And he's starting to believe that he is.

He keeps smiling.


End file.
